Apps and podcasts we love: Timely

Students time everything: when to wake up, when to empty the washing machine, when to start the next lap at the gym…you get my drift. Our alarm clock on our smartphones makes it pretty easy—so it’s hard to think there could be a better way to do it. But it turns out there is! Timely is basically a replacement for your phone’s default alarm clock app, but it does everything so much better. You might want to add it to your list of “Always install, forever!” apps.

The app includes a set of alarm sounds that have been handcrafted and engineered with one purpose: waking you up in a pleasant way. The “smart rise” feature can start playing your (now angelic) alarm 30 minutes before you want to wake, with slowly increasing volume. Chances are you’ll wake up before your alarm is on full volume—which will make your roommates grateful too (they hate your rooster sound at 6 a.m. and you know it).

To turn off the alarm, this app requires you to do all sorts of things that will ensure you actually wake up. For instance, you might have to shake your phone or solve different kinds of puzzles. You can tap the screen while asleep, but mustering the strength to shake your phone is surprisingly difficult—so it really gets you up and going effectively.

Timely also includes a timer, stopwatch, and a beautiful screen clock you can set up as your phone background. Now you can safely drag your old alarm app to the trash and check the time with style.

I highly recommend this app for anyone who has trouble getting going in the morning or, really, just anyone who’s sick of the conventional alarm clock.